ATHENS, Ohio - The Morgan County Board of Elections, worried that it won't be able to pay for
the election Nov. 2, has sued the county commissioners for more money.

In the legal action, which Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner had transferred to Athens County
partly to expedite the matter, the board has asked Common Pleas Judge Michael Ward to order Morgan
County to come up with more than $29,000 in emergency funding.

A special prosecutor representing the board warned in a motion filed Friday that, without the
money, "The board will have no choice but to lay off the entire staff and will not be able to pay
the other expenses necessary for the upcoming election."

Alison L. Cauthorn, an assistant prosecutor in Washington County, said the board has not
suggested that it's about to lay off the staff, but "that's
my concern, due to the fact that they don't have any money left."

"They're not supposed to have to go to the commissioners every time they want to buy a box of
pencils," Cauthorn said.

After an Aug. 26 hearing in Morgan County Common Pleas Court, appointed Judge John W. Nau of
Noble County ordered that board members' pay be frozen and the money transferred to pay the two
staff members through September - a move the board opposed. He also cut the staffers' pay to $11.50
an hour for 25 hours a week. Previously, they had been making $26,624 a year for a 32-hour
workweek.

The four board members are paid about $3,600 a year each.

Nau's order expired at the end of September. On Sept. 2, Brunner's office filed a motion to
intervene in the case - as she has legal authority to do in elections-related litigation - and move
it to Athens County.

Patrick Gallaway, spokesman for Brunner's office, said one reason the secretary intervened was
that she "felt that the litigation wasn't progressing as quickly as it needed to," and she wanted
to ensure that the Morgan County board has the resources it needs to handle the election, which is
less than a month away.

Nau approved the move in late September. No hearings have been scheduled in the new venue.

The Morgan County Board of Elections staff resigned about two weeks before last year's general
election, citing low pay, heavy workload and insufficient paid hours to get the work done.

None of the Morgan County commissioners returned a call seeking comment. Their attorney, Randall
L. Lambert of Ironton, was in court and unavailable yesterday.